The City of Ione is on a tight, but doable, timeframe for the resolution of the violations of state water rules last winter and spring. In a recent meeting of the Ione City Council City Manager George Lambert states that the State Regional Water Quality Control Board is requiring, as part of the City’s mitigation plan, that the city fix pond number 7 completely by October 20th. According to Lambert the pond project is “essentially complete.” By December 15th the City must have their sanitary sewers operation maintenance plan submitted to the state for approval.

A Review Request for a Use Permit and Reclamation Plan by George Reed Inc. to expand the Jackson Valley Quarry was accepted recently by the Technical Advisory Committee. The Jackson Valley Quarry currently consists of a 74 acre parcel containing a quarry, processing plant, scale house, storm water ponds, parking and loading areas as well as stockpiles.

The Amador County Public Works department announced recently at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting that they would be using all available funds, originally designated as preventative maintenance funds, to repair roads that were damaged in last spring’s storms. Director of Public Works Larry Peterson said, “It is a combo of last year’s storms and erosion in places that has gotten so bad we need to do some major repairs.” Amador County has received Federal Emergency Management Agency and state Office of Emergency Services funding for some of the storm damage, however the Federal funds will not cover major collector roads, such as Ridge Road, because those are under the jurisdiction of the State not County. Amador County Road Superintendent Gary Shoft said basically, “(the state) has told us that they are broke and ‘do not ask for money.’” Peterson further explained,

In a major development for the Ione Band of Miwok’s proposed casino, according to a letter obtained by TSPN, a determination regarding the land status for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians has been issued by James Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior.The September 26th letter is based on an opinion from the United States Department of the Interior Associate Solicitor from the Division of Indian Affairs, Carl J. Artman regarding the Ione Band’s request for a determination if gaming can occur on the land they hope to develop near Plymouth.

Next week is CDF’s annual Fire Prevention Week and CDF is reminding all residents of some fire dangers that , well, are part of every day life. As part of Fire Prevention Week the State Fire Marshal is emphasizing everyday situations that can lead to injury and one of those is something as simple as cooking, According to state statistics 290 people die and 4,380 are injured each year nationwide in house fires associated with cooking equipment.

The Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council is trying to beat statistics by educating the community on domestic violence and how it affects everyone involved. Safe From the Start is a free two-hour workshop that will include information on reducing children’s exposure to violence. According to information from the Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council an estimated one out of every four children in California is directly exposed to violence as a victim or a witness.

During the annual Sutter Amador Hospital Auxiliary installation ceremony held on Monday, September 18th, outgoing president Kathy Glunt presented a check for $20,000 to Anne Platt, CEO. The check represents the final installment of a $100,000 pledge the Auxiliary made in support of the hospital’s Outpatient Services Center.

Community members could be seeing more services being offered from our local community centers according to a report from ATCAA. Presented to the Board of Supervisor’s was a request on behalf of ATCAA for funding of $50,000 match to a grant from the SH Cowell Foundation for the first year of a 3 year grant. Overall the funding will leverage $300,000 and be divided between the Pine Grove and Camanche Community Centers.

The Jackson Fire Department Call totals are in for the month of September. Medical assistance calls were the bulk of calls last month with a total of 46 calls at 68% of the call totals. Public assistance came in at a far second with 10 calls totaling for 15% of the call volume.

Saturday, October 14, 2006 the Amador County Waste Management Department will be collecting used (waste) tires from Amador County residents for recycling.